


Because I Love You

by 1967PotterImpala, KaitlynSpeight



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, Human Gabriel, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, S8: E23 Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 16:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7445677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1967PotterImpala/pseuds/1967PotterImpala, https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaitlynSpeight/pseuds/KaitlynSpeight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Gabriel fell from heaven he has nowhere left to run, so maybe it's time he stopped running at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because I Love You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SammySammyDean](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SammySammyDean/gifts).



> Happy birthday to my [Stupid Idiot](yesmyqueen.tumblr.com) I love you very very much and I hope you enjoy <3  
> P.S. lawl I'm shit at descriptions shut up

He isn’t sure what happened. For someone like Gabriel, that isn’t something he’s used to. 

 

One second he was hiding out in one of the furthest reaches of heaven - Abel’s little plot of sheep and tumbleweeds - then he was falling. 

 

_ Then,  _ then there was pain. 

 

So much pain. Like every cell in his body was exploding, every drop of liquid that made him up boiling simultaneously.

 

He could feel his wings being ripped from his body and his grace tearing its way out of his chest and then… nothing. 

 

Blackness.  

 

When he came to, it was slow. Light seeping in around the edges, the darkness slowly fading away. 

 

Then it was all at once, a scream tearing its way out of his chest as the pain set back in, though not  _ quite  _ as bad as before. 

 

Eventually he managed to gather enough strength to sit up, looking around at the decimated forest around him.

 

“The fuck,” he mumbled, slowly pulling himself up, stumbling weakly before he managed to catch his balance 

 

He whimpered, clutching his stomach and stumbling towards the tree line. First priority, figure out where the hell he is, then he can worry about everything else. 

 

He barely managed to make it to the road before collapsing, falling back into the blackness. 

 

When he came to again, it was to bright light and a steady beeping. 

 

“Where… am I?” He croaked, slowly sitting up, looking down at the wires and needles connected to his arm. 

 

Eventually he became aware the utter  _ silence.  _

 

Not in the human sense of the word, he was aware of the constant beeping from the machines next to him, the muted conversations going on outside his room, but there was no  _ chatter _ . 

 

None of the constant babble from the angels, no thoughts from the humans, no  _ anything _ . 

 

“Ah, you’re awake!” A cheerful voice cutting through his musings. 

 

“I’m in a hospital,” Gabriel stated, looking up at the nurse as she entered his room. “What happened, where am I?”

 

“Harlan county hospital, can you tell me your name?” 

 

“Harlan county… Nebraska?”

 

She nodded, “Yes, sir can you tell me your name?”

 

“Thanks, sweetie, you’ve been great, can you tell me where my clothes are?” Gabriel asked, hissing quietly as he crawled out of bed, tugging the wires and IVs from himself. 

 

“Sir I have to insist-”

 

“Look, sugar, I’ve got a long walk ahead of me and I’m fucking pissed, so how about you tell me where my clothes are and get out of my way,” he hissed. 

 

He’d heard talk of a bunker in Lebanon, someplace safe, if he could find it maybe… Maybe he could figure out what the hell was going on, and the sooner the better. 

 

“You… weren’t exactly wearing much when you got here, your clothes look like they were burned off of you, sir you aren’t well please get back in bed.”

 

Gabriel snarled, shoving passed her and out into the hallway. 

 

“Sir!”

 

“Oh shut the fuck up lady,” he rolled his eyes, ignoring everyone who tried to stop him as he made his way out of the building. 

 

Approximately a twenty-four hour walk, he was presumably mostly human, which meant he would need food, and need a way to  _ obtain  _ food… but twenty hours wasn’t bad, he could do that. 

 

But in a hospital gown…

 

“Fuck that,” he mumbled, wandering around until he found a suitable car and smashing the window, “sorry bucko,” he rolled his shoulders, hot wiring the car and climbing in. 

 

By the time the car finally sputtered to a stop an hour later, he was just outside of town, and more than ready to collapse from a mixture of pain and exhaustion. 

 

He stumbled out of the car, limping towards the outside of town. 

 

~

 

“I don’t know what happened, but you’re dying, Sam. We need to worry about you before-”

 

“Shit watch out!” Sam grabbed the wheel, swerving off the road. 

 

“What the hell?!” Dean growled, slamming on the brakes and turning to glare at his brother. 

 

“Someone’s in the road,” Sam mumbled, climbing out of the car, “come on I think they’re hurt.”

 

Dean rolled his eyes, but got out, pausing when Sam froze in place in front of him, “Sam what-  _ Gabriel? _ Oh hell no, Sammy get back in the car.”

 

Sam shook his head, “Gabriel, hey, can you hear me?” He called, taking a step forward when angry golden eyes snapped to him. 

 

“Winchesters, the hell are you doing here,” He snarled, sitting up and cradling his arm to his chest. 

 

“What happened to you, we thought you were dead.”

 

“Yeah, well, I was,” Gabriel growled, pausing to sniff the air, “you’re sick... “ He sniffed again, “oh no way, you’re doing the trials?” 

 

“Sam, get in the car,” Dean demanded, but again, Sam ignored him. 

 

“What happened to you?”

 

“You mean after my brother used me as a sheath for his angel blade? I don’t really know. Woke up in some field in Topeka, recharged there for a while, and flew back to heaven. 

 

“Till recently I was hanging out with one of the First, then I was, very rudely might I say, thrown down here.”

 

“What happened to your arm?” Sam asked, taking another step forward. 

 

“Well I fell approximately  _ from space  _ and my wings burned off,” Gabriel hissed, pulling himself to his feet and trying to walk away, stumbling and falling after only a step. “I fell on it… I can’t walk I… barely have any grace left and…” He sighed finally, sagging with defeat. 

 

“Come with us,” Sam said, ignoring Dean’s protest. “We’ve been living out of the Men Of Letter’s bunker ju-”

 

“No way, you two muttonheads managed to find the bunker when I couldn’t?”

 

“You know about the bunker?”

 

“No fucking way he’s staying with us!”

 

“Shut up Dean,” Sam mumbled, closing the last few steps to Gabriel and helping him up. 

 

Gabriel only hesitated a minute before letting Sam lead him to the car. 

 

“I don’t fucking-”

 

“What if I can fix Sam?” Gabriel cut Dean off. 

 

“You… could do that?” Dean asked cautiously, “how?”

 

“I have a little bit of mojo left, if I burn myself out I should be able to fix him up enough that his body can handle the rest.”

 

“I can’t ask you to-”

 

“Deal.”

 

Sam glares at his brother, helping Gabriel slide into the back seat and climbing in himself. “He died once for us, isn’t that enough?”

 

“How many times did he kill me?”

 

“I wouldn’t die I’d just… be human, but if we wait till I’m healed enough to heal him without… that, he’s dead. So. Sam, just accept it.”

 

Sam nodded slowly, “but you’re staying with us,” he states, starring Dean down until he nods. 

 

“Fine, pipsqueak can stay,  _ if  _ he can fix you.” He finally agree, climbing in and steering the impala back on the road. “Let’s just get you home.”

 

~

 

“Are you sure about this, Sammy?” Dean asks, shifting nervously in his seat. 

 

“Dean, look at him. I don’t think he could hurt either of us if he tried right now, besides, what choice do I have?” 

 

Gabriel climbed up onto the bed, sitting next to Sam, “alright, this won’t be pleasant so I’m gonna knock you out first, you should wake up in a few hours. You’ll still feel like shit, but you won’t be dying, alright?”

 

Sam nodded, glancing up at him, “and what about you?” 

 

“Don’t worry about me, you ready?” 

 

Sam nodded slowly, relaxing back into the pillows. “Dean if you’re an ass to him while I’m out…”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get him fed and set up with a room, I got it.”

 

Sam nodded, allowing Gabriel to lay a hand over his chest, and a moment later, slumped on the bed. 

 

“He’s down?”

 

“Yeah, now comes the fun part… You might wanna leave.”

 

“Not a snowballs chance, asshat.”

 

“Then cover your ears, cause I’m gonna scream, and I don’t think Sammy would appreciate coming back to find your brains blown out.”

 

Dean reluctantly complied, watching as Gabriel took a deep breath, face contorting in pain a moment later.

 

After a minute the whimpers started, then the screaming. Dean doubled over in pain, clutching his ears as tears sprung to his eyes. 

 

Just as he was beginning to regret his refusal to leave, everything went silent. 

 

When he looked up, Gabriel was slumped on top of Sam, chest heaving with an effort to breath. 

 

“He’s… he’s okay, I… Fuck,” he whimpered, slowly sitting up. “Don’t suppose you have any morphine?”

 

Dean sighed, helping Gabriel up and all but carrying him to the kitchen, “no morphine, but I’ll get you some pain killers, look you over. Then you’re gonna eat and go to bed and that’s all I wanna hear about it.”

 

Gabriel nodded, letting Dean do whatever he wanted, sighing happily when he finally helped him to his room and let him collapse into bed. 

 

“Hey, Dean, erm, don’t take this the wrong way, but thanks.”

 

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but no problem. Sleep.” Dean ordered, slipping out of the room and closing the door behind him. 

 

When he woke up again, it was to a gentle hand in his hair. He slowly opened his eyes, throwing himself out of the bed when he saw a face he didn’t recognize. 

 

“Who are you, what do you want?” He demanded, his mind reeling as he tried to remember where the hell he was and why he was in so much  _ pain _ . 

 

“Woah, it’s alright, I’m Charlie. I’m a friend of Sam and Dean’s, I brought you something to eat.” She said, holding her hands up. 

 

Gabriel slowly relaxed,  _ right, Sam and Dean, the bunker. Human.  _

 

He pulled himself to his feet, sitting on the edge of the bed and accepting the tray Charlie handed over without a word. 

 

“How do you feel?” 

 

Gabriel shrugged, nibbling on a cracker. “I don’t know, I hurt, I can tell you that much… I’m… cold? I think… and is everything always this scratchy?” 

 

Charlie smiled slightly, “well you are in a hospital gown, will you let me help? Sam gave me some clothes to help you change into.”

 

Gabriel nodded, pushing his food away and letting Charlie strip him, “where are they, anyway?” 

 

“They’re looking into the angels falling, they called me to babysit, arms up.”

 

Gabriel obeyed, helping her pull on the soft hoodie, lifting his hips when she got around to his sweats. 

 

“Stanford… that’s where… are these Sam’s?” 

 

Charlie nodded, gesturing at his barely touched plate, “eat.”

 

Gabriel nodded, nuzzling happily into the far-too-big hoodie, soft from years of wear. 

 

“I think I have to go to the bathroom,” he mumbled after a minute, crossing his arms, “how do you do it? I have to  _ get up to pee? _ ” He huffed. 

 

“Oh shut up drama queen, come on,” she grabbed his arm and lead him to the bathroom, shoving him inside.

 

~

 

As time went on, it wasn’t hard to tell that Gabriel  _ hated  _ being a human. It took him ages to figure out to tell what he needed, rumbling stomach means food, stomach ache mean bathroom, and gooseflesh means blankets.

 

He had thought after all his years living among humans it would be easier, but no of wouldn’t be the case. 

 

Nothing tasted right, everything felt scratchy, he was always either too hot or too cold, and if he wanted anything he had to actually  _ get up  _ and get it. 

 

The Winchester’s, for their part, were good to him. Dean warmed up to him after a couple months, especially when he started lending a hand in research, but Sam… Sam was almost too good to him. 

 

The younger Winchester took it upon himself to make sure Gabriel had his own personal stash of blankets, made of varying thickness and material. He bought any food he could think of on a hunt to find something Gabriel liked, he made sure he had his own air conditioning unit and bought him special clothes so he was comfortable. 

 

It never really registered to Gabriel how out of his way the moose was going for him, until it did. And of course it was at the most inconvenient time. When he was curled up in bed, half asleep under his favorite twelve blankets with his air conditioning on full blast in the window.

 

But he can’t very well sleep without asking Sam now that he’s realized, so he slowly dragged himself out of bed and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. 

 

By the time he got to Sam’s room, though, the idea of  _ standing  _ any longer was far too much, and he crawled into bed next to the hunter without a second thought. 

 

“Gab...riel? What are you doing here?” Sam mumbled sleepily, easily wrapping an arm around his waist and tugging him closer. 

 

“Why?”

 

Sam blinked at him for a moment, eyes catching the dim light from the hallway. “It’s late...or early.... You’re gonna have to be more specific.”

 

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

 

Sam chuckled, nuzzling closer to the former angel, but didn’t offer any other explanation. 

 

“Sam~” Gabriel whined, eyes already starting to drift closed of their own accord, “why?”

 

Sam doesn’t say anything, and Gabriel finally concedes that he cannot  _ possibly  _ stay up any later, letting his eyes fall closed and snuggling closer to the massive space heater in bed with him.

 

Only then does Sam move, slowly lacing their fingers together with a gentleness someone his size should absolutely not possess. 

 

Gabriel finds just enough strength to lightly squeeze his fingers, smiling at the answering squeeze. 

 

When Sam finally speaks, Gabriel isn’t sure if he’s even actually awake. Actually, he knows he’s not, because there’s no way Sam would be whispering “because I love you,” in his ear and pressing a barely-there kiss to his temple anywhere other than a dream. 

 

But when he wakes up the next morning and Sam’s still there, already awake, fingers combing lightly through his hair, he decides maybe he can stay in this dream a bit longer. 

 

And after the way Sam’s eyes light up when he leans in for a sleepy kiss… He isn’t sure he ever wants to wake up again. 

  
  
  



End file.
